


Spider's Web

by ThinkoftheWindandSun



Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 21:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1363237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThinkoftheWindandSun/pseuds/ThinkoftheWindandSun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He had always known he would have to give it up... it was just fate, he knew." </p>
<p>Keigo's good at letting go; he's done it all of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spider's Web

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the Bleach show/manga or its characters or original plot line. I merely own the plot, if one can call it that.

He had always known that he would have to give it up.  
All the useless attempts at reconstructing their fragile friendship, the beautiful shattered friendship he had so cherished, were in vain.  
They always had been.  
It was always the same; he would make a friend, love them with all of his heart, and he would watch them find better friends, then he would let them go. Once, in the very beginning, he had thought there was something wrong with him, that he couldn’t keep any friends. But it was just his fate, he knew. He was not meant to be the best friend or even the friendly enemy. His fate had always been to wait out the others around him for the inevitable crash.  
It’s why he didn’t even blink when Ichigo turned to him from where he and his new friends were gathered. He sat a little ways away, silent and contemplative, watching them all with soft eyes. Ichigo looked concerned, he knew what was coming without hearing the next words.  
‘Oi, Keigo… are you alright? You’re being sort of… quiet.’ Ichigo sounded even more concerned than he looked, uncertain and oh-so-unaware.  
He couldn’t help but smile back, soft and gentle, like a mother sending off her child. And wasn’t that what he was doing? Sending off the boy he had helped grow into a man even if the man didn’t know it. It hurt, it always did, so the smile was a little sad, but it was also happy, because he knew things would only get better for the other without him, and that was all he wanted.  
It was his fate, after all.  
So he just smiled at Ichigo and the man’s friends who had also turned to stare at him. He could see Orihime’s eyes shining with worry, see the way Ishida’s glasses flashed as he tilted his head thoughtfully, Chad’s blank expression. He could read the way Tatsuki was about a second away from punching the smile away from his face and ringing his neck until she figured out what was the matter. Could see Mizuiro look up from his phone and actually frown knowingly.  
What great friends I’ve crafted, he thought idly, even as he slowly packed away his lunch. What beautiful relations have been made. Perhaps it wasn’t all him, some of it had to be their doing, but he knew that he had helped those friendships form between the group, like a spiderweb. Stunning and intricate and yet so delicate and strong. It was something he was proud of, this achievement, and it also signified what he knew was the end. Because he could see the fine spider-strings connecting them all and he knew that he was no longer needed.  
‘I don’t understand…’ Ichigo muttered, staring with wide eyes.  
He smiled a little softer, realizing he had said everything aloud, and then he got to his feet and brushed off of his pants. He turned away and began walking, only stopping once on the other side of the open doorway, knowing that they were listening intently for his explanation. He let the door slip shut with a resounding click, already walking down the stairs at an easy stroll, hands shoved deep into his pockets. His silence continued until he stood in the empty classroom, his eyes locked onto the sky outside.  
His smile remained in place as he whispered softly to the breeze, words that would never be heard by anyone else.  
‘I’m the spider, Ichigo. When my web is done, I have to move on.’

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot I originally posted on FF.net a while ago, but never got around to posting here. 
> 
> It's basically my head-cannon of Keigo that while he's loud and funny and takes a lot of abuse from Ichigo and his other friends, he's got depths and layers. I mean, he goes after Aizen with a sword, so it's pretty obvious that he's awesome.  
> My Keigo is self-aware and a little... off. He honestly believes that his role in life is to make friends with people until they gather a larger group of friends and then leave to do it all over again. He loves his friends in a platonic "let me cherish you and make you happy" kind of way. While he does actually factor his own happiness into a lot of things he does, most of his actions are made to make others happy.


End file.
